Signal Processing - January 2017 - 24

Technology." A schematic sketch of the relation between the
room shape estimation in through-the-wall radar imaging in
eye's wavefront aberration and the ECG, the BP, and respiracooperation with the Center for Advanced Communications,
tion signals is shown in Figure 7.
Villanova University, United States
"Prof. Iskander has his own teaching philosophy [9], and,
■ directional integration of wirelessly transmitted audio sigafter the master's thesis project, it was clear to me that I
nals into hearing aid processing, and many more.
wanted to continue with signal processing research. WorkClearly, each of these applications has its own challenges.
ing with real data in a team consisting of
"When I was a master's student at TU
engineers and eye researchers allowed me
Darmstadt," remembers Dr.-Ing. Michael
For the development
to grasp the importance of signal processMuma, now a postdoctoral researcher with
of DSP algorithms that
ing. Today's measurement devices and
the SPG, "I was walking through the corshow good and robust
data analysis are too complex to be hanridor and saw a notice that immediately
performance
dled without a rigorous understanding of
caught my attention. The notice literally
in real product
signals and systems theory. At the SPG,
opened my eyes to an exciting application
it is important that students are given the
of signal processing: the research of human
applications, real-time
opportunity to work hands-on from the
vision. Doing my master's thesis project
tests with typical signals
start. I am very grateful that I could do my
in the Contact Lens and Visual Optics
in realistic environments
master's thesis project in such an inspirLaboratory (CLVOL), which is part of the
are essential.
ing environment full of high-tech custom
School of Optometry and Vision Science
equipment," says Dr. Muma.
at Queensland University of Technology,
Brisbane, Australia, was an amazing experience. The CLVOL
5
■
Students are ready to undertake larger projects and to
has a sophisticated range of unique measurement and analysis
work independently
techniques. These include methods to investigate the shape of
■ 5 cooperation with selected industry and research partners
the cornea, the optical characteristics of the eye, visual perprovides hands-on experiences
formance of contact lenses, and the biometric properties of
■ 5 outstanding projects that use real-world data can lead to
the eye. After all the coursework, I really wanted to test my
publications and conference visits
skills in a practical environment, and I also wanted to see how
■ 5 recruitment of RAs
research was organized outside the university. While I was at
■ K master's students often stop at the height of their
the CLVOL, I took all the measurements myself. This involved
productivity.
the synchronous measurement of the eye's wavefront aberrations, cardiac function, blood pulse and respiration signals. We
Laboratories
were among the first ones to analyze the role of cardiopulmoCentral to our hands-on education, from freshmen to seniornary signals in the dynamics of wavefront aberrations [8]. My
year students, are the signal processing laboratories at TU
master's thesis project was under the supervision of Dr. Robert
Darmstadt. This section presents our diverse signal processing
Iskander, who is now a professor at Wroclaw University of
laboratories and the opportunities they offer for our students.
■

Z20(t )

1
0
Re(t)

0
1

ECG(t)

BP(t)

0
1

3
Time (Seconds)

FigUre 7. An example of a hands-on master's thesis project undertaken in cooperation with the CLVOL at Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane,
Australia. The picture shows a schematic sketch of the defocus component of an eye's wavefront aberration Z 02 (t) , the respiration signal Re(t), the blood
pulse BP(t), and the ECG(t).
24

IEEE Signal Processing Magazine

January 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Signal Processing - January 2017